Building Research Capacity (BRC): Purposes, Components, and Activities to Date

Stephen K. Stacey; Peter H. Seidenberg; Lynn M. Meadows; David Schneider; Bernard Ewigman

doi:10.3122/jabfm.2024.240033R1

Article Figures & Data

Tables

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Table 1.

Process for a Building Research Capacity (BRC) Consultation

Initial engagement

Interested department contacts BRC for information on a consultation
Experienced BRC consultant performs the initial exploratory consult at no charge in order to understand the context, goals, and needs of the client
Written exploratory report is given to the client for review and edit
Client decides if consultation is still desired and in what form (e.g., virtual vs in-person; multi-day extensive review with follow up vs regular virtual meetings)

Full consultation

Identify consultant(s) – not necessarily the same person who performed the initial exploratory engagement; may provide more than one consultant option and allow client to choose
Develop contract with specific goals of consultation, form it will take, timeline, cost, and deliverables
Consultation happens and chosen consultant provides regular update reports to the consultation workgroup and staff
Develop initial report and get feedback from client
Develop final report with specific action options for client to consider implementing
Schedule follow up virtual contact to provide any further assistance to client in implementing an action plan

Evaluation of consultation

Consultant shares final report with evaluation group
Evaluation group sends evaluation survey sent to client within 2 to 3 weeks of completion of consultation
Interviews with client about outcomes as needed
Based on the client feedback, an evaluation report is prepared and shared with the consultant as well as the consultation workgroup and staff

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Table 2.

Demographic Characteristics of Building Research Capacity (BRC) Fellows

Characteristic	Number of fellows (n = 26)
Gender identity
Woman	15 (58%)
Man	11 (42%)
Location
United States	24 (92%)
Canada	2 (8%)
Educational background
MD/DO/MBBS	10 (38%)
PhD	14 (54%)
Dual degree	2 (8%)
Institution type
University	22 (85%)
Community-affiliated	4 (15%)

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Table 3.

List of Building Research Capacity (BRC) Presentations from Inception of BRC through 2023

Year	Conference	Title
2016	NAPCRG	BRC Launch - Building a culture of inquiry in departments and residency programs
2016	NAPCRG	Role of leadership and senior management in facilitating or impeding scholarship and research development
2017	ADFM	Joy in Research: The Role of the Administrator-Chair Partnership in Inspiring Research
2017	STFM	Creating a Culture of Inquiry in Academic Family Medicine
2017	NAPCRG	Means to Meaningful Mentorship
2018	ADFM	What Does Building Research Capacity Mean to Departments of Family Medicine: A BRC Dialogue
2018	STFM	Should Family Medicine Educators be Expected to Do Research: A Point-Counterpoint Debate
2018	STFM	I Am Not a Researcher: Why Should I Do Research? How Participation in Research Makes ME a Better Family Medicine Educator
2018	NAPCRG	Promoting Research and Scholarship in Family Medicine: Finding the Time and Money to Support It: A Building Research Capacity (BRC) Workshop
2019	ADFM	Key Chair Decisions in Building Research and Scholarship Capacity
2019	STFM	Quality Improvement Projects as Research: A Building Research Capacity (BRC) How-To Workshop
2019	NAPCRG	A BRC Forum: How to Do Feasible and Gratifying Research by Aligning with Clinical, Quality and Operational Priorities
2019	NAPCRG	Building Research Capacity: Gathering US and Canada Chair and Research Leader Priorities and Practical Strategies
2020	ADFM	The Leader’s Guide to Decision-Making When Building Research and Scholarship Capacity (preconference workshop)
2020	STFM	Creating Great Educational Research Projects - A Building Research Capacity (BRC) Session
2020	NAPCRG	Strategies to Address Research Challenges and Opportunities in the Midst of a Global Pandemic: A BRC Workshop
2020	NAPCRG	Building Research Capacity: From Priorities and Strategies to Department Actions (preconference workshop)
2020	FMEC	Building Research Capacity: From Priorities and Strategies to Action
2021	ADFM	Research in the Era of Crises: COVID, Health Equity, Population Health, or Making a More Equitable Research Enterprise (preconference workshop)
2022	ADFM	Creating a Strategic Plan for Research in Your Department
2022	STFM	Fulfilling Your Program’s Scholarship Requirements Through Readily Available Resources and Creative Strategies
2022	NAPCRG	Utilizing Research Indicators to Boost Your Department’s Effectiveness
2023	ADFM	Building Research Capacity: Change Management, A Tool for Meeting your Department’s Research Goals
2023	STFM	Increasing Research Capacity: How Much Is Right for You?
2023	NAPCRG	SPARC Presentations: Strategic Plans to Advance Research Capacity by graduates of the Building Research Capacity Fellowship
2023	NAPCRG	The Joy of Research: Discovering, Rediscovering, and Growing It
2023	NAPCRG	Strategies to Keep Your (Post-Pandemic) Research Moving Forward

Abbreviations: PCRG, North American Primary Care Research Group; ADFM, Association of Departments of Family Medicine; FM, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine; EC, Future of Medical Education in Canada.